October 2016 marked 10 years since it became illegal to discriminate against someone because of their age*.
It is unlawful to directly or indirectly discriminate against or to harass or victimise someone because of their age. It doesn’t matter if that’s because you’re young or old, a worker or an employee.
The intention of the law is to prevent unfairness in the workplace, however, many cases have been brought to court over the past decade.
Here are a few examples:
Recruitment
- When writing recruitment ads, employers can’t try to save money by employing younger people, and can’t use phrases that suggest age, such as “youthful enthusiasm”.
- A 42-year-old banker was replaced by a 38-year-old. He won a claim for age discrimination when he found the headhunters had been briefed to seek someone with “a younger profile”.
- An air traffic controller won a case when it was found their employer had a policy not to recruit anyone over age 35.
- A 17-year-old won a case when he sacked after only working 3.5 hours. His employer tried to argue they only employed people aged 18 or over.
- A young worker in Northern won damages when the court found she’d been dismissed before she turned 18 so her employer wouldn’t have to pay national minimum wage. The judge described the company as “callous”.
Ageist language
Employers must train staff to understand what language is unacceptable in the workplace, such as name-calling.
- A 51-year-old man was awarded £63,000 for age discrimination and injury to feelings after alleged poor performance and colleagues calling him “gramps”, “old fashioned”, and “long in the tooth”.
- A teenager won a claim for harassment after her line manager described her as a “kid” and “a stroppy little teenager”.
- A pub supervisor dismissed a disabled older worker. Among other mistakes, he boasted about the “new, young, dynamic team”.
On the other hand
- When a partner in a law firm was forced to retire at age 65, the courts ultimately decided that a compulsory retirement age was justifiable, as it assisted with workforce planning and supported staff retention.
- An employee dismissed for displaying “ageist tendencies” lost his case when the appeal court found he couldn’t handle being managed by two younger female colleagues.
- A contract worker lost a case when it was found they had been dismissed because of poor performance, not youth.
More information
For more details about the law relating to age discrimination,
*The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 were replaced by the Equality Act in 2010, which covers nine protected characteristics. In 2011, the default retirement age was repealed.
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